Page 25 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

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Donald Cerrone appears to be on the fast track to a title shot in his new home at welterweight.
Cerrone (31-7 MMA, 18-4 UFC), a longtime UFC lightweight who this year moved up to 170 pounds after a title setback at 155, will face recently deposed champ Robbie Lawler (27-11 MMA, 12-5 UFC) at UFC 205.
UFC President Dana White today told CBS Cleveland radio host Anthony Lima the bout is official on paper. The bout will be part of the event’s main card, though it will not serve as the headliner.

Jon Fitch will put his welterweight title on the line for the first time in November when he meets Jake Shields in the WSOF 34 main event.
WSOF President Ray Sefo announced the matchup between Fitch (28-7-1) and Shields (31-8-1) to ESPN.com today, confirming the card would run opposite of the highly anticipated UFC 205 pay-per-view set for the same night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
WSOF 34 takes place Nov. 12 at Budweiser Event Center in Loveland, Colo., near Denver. The main card will air on NBCSN following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Vik Grujic has found a new home with Canadian based “Z Promotions” and will square off with former UFC and Strikeforce fighter Roger Bowling on the promotion’s Fight Night Medicine Hat 2 event on October 28.
A live stream of the show, which takes place at the Canalta Centre in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, will be available right here at Fight News Australia.
It’s been 16 months since we last saw Grujic (7-5) in action. That was against fellow “TUF Nations” cast member Brendan O’Reilly, who dealt a unanimous decision loss to “The Spartan” at UFC Fight Night 65 in Adelaide. The defeat marked Grujic’s third in four UFC fights, and he was shown the door from the promotion consequently. The 39 year-old’s lone UFC victory came against Chris Indich in New Zealand.

HAMBURG, Germany – Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 93 event drew an announced attendance of 11,763 for a live gate of $913,428 U.S. dollars.
The UFC announced the tallies at the post-event news conference, which MMAjunkie attended. The event was a sell-out, and an announced 30 percent of ticket sales came from outside Germany.

The planned opener for Saturday’s UFC 203 fight card has moved to a later event.
A UFC official today confirmed with MMAjunkie that lightweights Damir Hadzovic (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Yukawa Kazuya (9-2-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) have moved from UFC 203 to UFC Fight Night 97.

Abel Trujillo is out of this month’s UFC Fight Night 94 event, and a replacement search is underway.
A UFC official today confirmed with MMAjunkie that Trujillo (15-6 MMA, 6-2 UFC) has suffered an undisclosed injury and been forced out of his bout against fellow lightweight Evan Dunham (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC).
UFC Fight Night 94 takes place Sept. 17 at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. It airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
Dunham vs. Trujillo was slated for the main card.

After originally being targetted for UFC Fight Night 95, the bantamweight bout between Pedro Munhoz and Justin Scoggins is set for UFC Fight Night 100.
A UFC official today confirmed the plans with MMAjunkie.
UFC Fight Night 100 is scheduled for Nov. 19 at a Brazilian location to be announced. Broadcast details for the event have not been confirmed. Munhoz vs. Scoggins is the first bout confirmed for the event.
Scoggins (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who’s No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, was supposed to fight Ian McCall on July 30 but ultimately was forced off the card. He went home empty-handed and decided to move up to bantamweight. He enters UFC Fight Night 95 coming off back-to-back decision wins over Josh Sampo and Ray Borg

HAMBURG, Germany – Ryan Bader, Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski each earned $50,000 bonuses for their performances at today’s UFC Fight Night 93 event – and Barnett doubled up with an extra $50,000.
Barnett and Arlovski earned the “Fight of the Night,” while Bader and Barnett each won “Performance of the Night” honors.
The UFC announced the winners at the night’s post-event news conference, which MMAjunkie attended.
Bader (21-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) had some dicey moments at the end of the first round of his light heavyweight scrap on the main card against Ilir Latifi (12-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC). But in the second, he took what he figured out in the first frame and put it to work. As Latifi moved in, Bader drilled him with a massive right knee that was on the button. Latifi was out before he hit the canvas, and Bader had a walk-off win that stunned the German fans.

Tuck is no stranger to the Filipino MMA fanbase. He fought in the UFC’s maiden event in the Philippines in May 2015, where he submitted Tae Hyun Bang via rear-naked choke and picked up a Performance of the Night bonus.
He’s currently 9-3 as a pro and 3-3 in the UFC, alternating wins and losses following a successful promotional debut in November 2012.
“Super Saiyan” is coming off a split decision loss to late replacement Josh Emmett at UFC Rotterdam last May. The fighter from Guam will be looking to get back into the winner’s circle when he faces Baghdad at UFC Manila.

Due to undisclosed reasons, Mairbek Taisumov is out of his fight with Nik Lentz at UFC 203. Now, promotional newcomer Michael McBride will step-up on short notice to fight Lentz. The news was confirmed on Thursday by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani.
Making his UFC debut, lightweight McBride will be looking to extend his wining streak to five in a row. McBride is 8-1 as a professional fighter, with all wins coming by submission. He last fought in November at MMC 61, defeating Derek Loffer via second-round triangle choke.

The card for WSOF 33 is complete with the promotion’s announcement of a seven-fight preliminary card.
The promotion today announced the bouts in a press release.
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WSOF 33 takes place at Kansas City Memorial Auditorium in Kansas City, Kan. A special three-hour main card airs on NBCSN. An official announcement from the promotion is expected soon.
A bantamweight rematch between Chris Gutierrez (9-1-1) and Timur Valiev (10-2) headlines the preliminary card. Also at Bantamweight, Jesse Brock (22-8) battles Bekbulat Magomedov (16-1).

The UFC’s return to Northern Ireland this fall has its main event.
The UFC Fight Night 99 headliner will be a welterweight bout between Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1 MMA, 12-3 UFC) and Gunnar Nelson (15-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC), UFC officials today announced. No other bookings were announced for the card, and Kim-Nelson is the first fight announced for the event so far.
UFC Fight Night 99 takes place Nov. 19 at SSE Arena in Belfast. Broadcast plans have not yet been announced. It is the first of two fight cards on the same day for the UFC. UFC Fight Night 100 takes place later in the day in Brazil.

RFA returns to “The Gopher State” in October for a card anchored by a pair of title fights.
RFA 45 will take place Oct. 28 at Mystic Showroom in Prior Lake, Minn. The main card will air on AXS TV.
In the main event, Gerald Meerschaert (23-8) faces Chase Waldon (10-1) for the vacant middleweight championship. Raoni Barcelos (10-1) puts his featherweight title on the line against Dan Moret (11-2) in the co-main event. The evening will also feature the return of Logan Storley (4-0) against an opponent to be named.
Meerschaert brings a four-fight winning streak into the middleweight title bout. All four wins – and 21 of his 23 career victories – have come via stoppage. The bout will mark his debut in the promotion.
Waldon is riding his own eight-fight winning streak. He has also only won by decision twice in his professional career.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz says he would like to fight Fedor Emelianenko but wants to do so at 205 pounds.
Edit: not on if it will happen, but if it did does anyone think that Ortiz would stand a chance?

UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has informed the company that he will leave his job with the organization, possibly as soon as the end of 2016, MMAjunkie has learned from a person close to the situation.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not publicly authorized to discuss the matter.
Silva’s departure will come on the heels of the UFC’s sale to a group headed up by talent agency WME-IMG, a deal that Silva is said to have profited from as a company executive.
That financial gain, and not any discontent with the sale or new owners, is motivating Silva’s decision to retire, the source said.